Halloween!

Eli was Charlie Brown for Halloween. Andrea had the idea last year just after Halloween so, she decided if he was bald again this Halloween he would be Charlie Brown. Well no hair, so here is the cutest Charlie Brown ever!

Charlie Brown and a Dum-Dum.

Diving in with both hands!
Later in the night he tried to take a whole bucket of candy.

Ooh, whats that?

Over the back, nothing but net.

Eli was good at dropping the balls into the bowls!

That was fun!

Eli and Dada.

Eli and Mama, Mama and Dada didn't find the spirit to dress up.

Visit from the Bakers

On 10/27 Caleb and Courtney came to Troutman to see us; they spent the night and we had a great time! We hung out, played with Eli, and went canoeing at the park. Eli is going to be an expert canoeist, I think this was his third canoe trip!

The Bakers enjoying the perfect weather!

There were plenty of basking turtles.

We were able to get super close to this little guy.

Eli making sure I had things under control.

Eli had a blast as usual, this time he was a little more active and wouldn't just sit quietly on mama's lap. He got to sit in the middle and stand up under mama's watchful eye.

Courtney and Eli were learning about all the birds we saw on the trip!

Superintendent Interview

On October 19, I interviewed for the Superintendent position at the new Grandfather Mountain State Park (GRMO). NC State Parks bought Grandfather Mountain's backcountry a couple of years ago and now are finally hiring staff. It is a beautiful area and amazing park. I couldn't pass up the potential opportunity to work there. After the oral interview there was a hike to introduce us to the park. Below are pictures from the JOB INTERVIEW..... :-)

As you can see there was rime ice on the north side of the mountain. There was also about an inch of snow on the ground and one of the slopes was so icy that it required crampons..... my kind of interview :-)

The competition is pretty stiff and it could still be a while before we find out the outcome, but I enjoyed the experience.

GRMO has a series of ladders and cables on some of their trails.

A view of Grandmother Mountain to the left of the pond.

Another great view.

Rime ice!

Rime ice and a great view, also evidence of how windy it gets on the mountain.

Grandfather Mountain, not the profile view.

Major Cheesing!

This video is from Jay and Laura's wedding. Eli was in rare form that night. You can see he would take out his paci, "cheese" for a photo, and then put the paci back in!!!

Eli Walking

Eli took his first steps awhile ago but for the past couple of weeks he has been walking around like crazy! He will just do laps around the living room with no real purpose other than the joy of walking.

State Fair

On 10/17 we went to the State Fair, as part of the Churchill/Veverka Wedding festivities. As always with the fair we had a good time and ate some good food. Unfortunately, we did not try the new chocolate dipped bacon, though I heard it was good!!

It was chilly the day of the fair so Eli was bundled up nicely.

Eli meeting a little chick.

Eli and a butter dipped ear of corn :-) He loved it!

Eli watching the pig races, he really enjoyed it! He watched the the whole way around the track and clapped a lot.

Ducks racing at the pig races!

mmm, chocolate-vanilla swirl!

Mama, Eli and a funnel cake.

This was the day before the fair but we had to post them.
This is Jon and Emma.

And of course, Laura and Emma.