We recently took a trip up to Missouri to visit my family. On the way, we stopped at Kathy and Aaron's (Kathy is John's cousin) in Dallas and spent some quality time with their two boys.

Here's Jake. He's five and a half and already (alas!) a Dallas Cowboys fan.


It was a little more difficult to get a still shot of Andrew. This was the best I could do. :-)


We arrived in the Kansas City area earlier than we expected, so we took the opportunity to surprise my darling Grandmother. She was very excited to see us--she even provided us with the opportunity to cut down her rosebushes!


When we finally arrived home, Mom and Dad had just gotten back from some function or another. They looked so good that we just had to take a picture.


The Thursday after we arrived, Mom, John, and I decided to take little Katie (our niece) to her preschool Halloween party. The opportunity of seeing cute little kids running around in costumes was just too good to pass up.

Here's John taking the ladybug to school. Though it doesn't look like it, they're having a good time.


Katie's little brother, Caleb, came along, as well. Enter the penguin and his Nana.


She's having a good time, I swear.


After we returned from trick-or-treating around various classrooms, the preschoolers sat down for some debriefing. The younger siblings of the preschooler, however, got to play.


And attempt feats of daring.


Several times.


But, things finally settled down and the little insects eventually reverted back into little children, complete with smiles.


Later that day, John and I went down to my sister's house to hang out with her, her sick husband, and her kids. We gave Noah his belated birthday present from us, Tyler and Jerilyn--a massive Stitch whom he immediately dressed up as a cowboy.


The present went over well (Stitch would later go trick or treating with us) and was a hit even with Noah's older brother.


Here's John with Audrey. For those of you who were praying for her this summer, look how well she's recovered! Thank you for your prayers: we're so grateful to have our beautiful girl back.


Stay tuned for some cowboys, jedis, witches, and bumblebees. . .