Great visit with Santa! A.J. started talking before he ever made it to Santa's lap. He explained how he wants a tractor with a trailer that hooks together, drums and a microphone....and many other items I couldn't quite hear. He told Santa he had been good - so Santa gave him a chocolate, gold wrapped coin.

Our friend Kim took a few snapshots of us last Sunday.
A.J. was more interested in the leaves!

Halloween night....

A.J. and Kelly were going door to door for over an hour!

I was very impressed they could handle the cold, but

I guess the candy was worth it!

More Pictures from Dill's...........

Facepainting, barrel rides, corn maze, smores, pumpkin picking.....
You name it and we did it at Dill's. : )

Every year we go to the Continental Office Halloween Party.

It is our FAVORITE Halloween outing and this year

was no different. A.J. had a great time with Kai and Sienna.

As you can see, A.J. was a firefighter this year.

He even rode around on his fire truck!

NEW PAJAMAS!

NEW PAJAMAS!
SPIDERMAN PJ'S AND SLIPPERS!

A.J. and "The Claw"

A.J. likes to give the evil growl, stop, turn-on the claw.....and come in for the attack! Sorry this is so dim.

Harvest Festival / Moon Festival at Hannah Park

We accidentally stumbled upon the Chinese / Vietnames Harvest / Moon Festival on Wednesday, September 22nd at a local park. There were several families there celebrating with kid activities, drums, costumes, a walking parade, candle lanterns and goodies for the kids. They were so nice to ask all of the other kids at the park to join in and gave us lanterns and goodie bags. It was so fun to watch their walking parade and to see the children and their special lanterns. They ended with a christian prayer and yelled thank you up to the sky. We had a blast watching.

A.J.'s first day of school went great. He just wanted us to reassure him we'd come back and pick him up. He looked at the other kids around him that were crying as if they were crazy! He couldn't seem to understand what their concerns were. He was just fine jumping in. SHEW!

This show (KA: Cirque du Soleil) was AMAZING!

Las Vegas! We had a great time!

We went with another couple, Shawn and Valerie. This was our first trip away from A.J.....It was harder on me than A.J.!

A.J. wasn't intimidated by the HUGE inflatable play area. He was the youngest to compete on this - at the St. Pius Festival. He also won a goldfish playing the toss game. They don't give you the fish at the festivals now - they just give you a ticket for a free fish at the local pet store. I'll take a picture of our new Tetra's for the next round of updates. Let's hope they are still around!

Yeah, David finally gets to eat! Check out that spray tan! He looked like a baked potato!

Amazing transformation pictures of David!

Lots of fun with the kid version of a powerwasher. He's washed EVERYTHING in the back yard.

Kadar will be missed. We had to put him to sleep right before our trip to Raleigh, NC / Alabama. What a wonderful dog!

Wow - Look at those beach bods! We were lucky enough to beat the oil to Pensacola Beach!

I'll post more photos of our trip soon!

Can you believe Kadar is almost 13? He is doing amazing. His weight has only dropped 3-5 lbs. (due to muscle mass lost in his hips/legs) which is great for his age and condition. He still tries to romp and play with David in the yard (for about 5 minutes)....then has to sleep 12 hours to recover! A.J. always hugs him gently and says, "It's okay Kadar. You feel better." He is such a joy. We are blessed to have him. (Rheia and Mito think so too!)

February 2010 - Finally an Update from the Samuels!

Kadar - 12 1/2 years old! He sure does sleep a lot now.

A.J. has been a big help as our 'fixer of all things that need tools'.

No nice poses for the camera, just a face down nose dive on the slide.

I know it has been a long time....but Facebook has been a serious distraction. Now I feel like I have to start keeping both sites updated. SHEW! I'll just upload a few pictures and/or videos today.....and give you the most recent run down of A.J.'s favorite things. He still LOVES cords. Cords, ropes, wires....anything long! He has been very good about asking us to plug things in (like his cd player or his "dd" player as he calls it). His most important chore in our house is to keep our cell phones charged. He checks in daily to see if they needs plugged in! He has also started using hilarious facial expressions, which of course, I can't catch in a photo. He is talking CONSTANTLY and raises the eyebrows, widens his eyes or squints and moves his arms and hands to make his message heard. During car rides, he insists we turn the radio off so we can talk. His record for non-stop talking is 28 minutes. It happened last night - driving home to Reynoldsburg from mom's in Grove City. I swear, every day I just am amazed. What a little sponge! Last note: Favorite Restaurant: Chick-Fil-A. LOVES IT! He finally went down the big slide this Tuesday night when we went for family night. They had a face painter, magician and a balloon artist.

As for David and I, things are just fine. We are thankful to have our jobs and our health and are looking forward to all that 2010 has to bring.