Jolly ol' Saint Brooke and his Wee Imp, Christina

Boy, was 2008 awful! Let's sum it up in two words: Crash (and) Burn. Ah well, how can we complain when we've got friends and family so willing to fill the air with good cheer? Gad, here are some now!

My wife, good Christina, loves latkes. Imps love latkes. It was cold at the Denver Christmas Market that night. Christina was cold that night. Therefore we can infer that Christina is a latke-loving imp who was cold at the Christmas Market...but those aren't latkes, THEY'RE BBRRRRRAAAAAAAIIIIIIINNNSSS!!!

Isobel has some mad Foosball and acrobatic skills and is in the process of scoring her 4th goal in a row. A split second after this picture was snapped she let out a gurgle and flipped over the table and landed in a split that Mary Lou Retton would envy.

I named this sheep "Filthy" for obvious reasons. Isobel called him "ooohhh tadatsch!"

Christmas day came and went but luckily this outfit stayed, compliments of Robert and Casey. Isobel will name you both to Minister Plenipotentiary posts in her Cabinet in the years to come.

Our little clapping, squinting, elf baby.

Happy Holidays, everyone!

Twiiiiiiiilight!!!!!

I used to be sorta in the closet about my love of Twilight, but since the release of the movie I've decided to just go ahead and embrace it. Jenny has been a catalyst, since she has read the books 4 times and is still an interesting and intelligent person. We decided to go all out and have Twilight Day last Thursday. We made Twilight-inspired food: Vampire Cupcakes and Irritable Grizzly.

And Coagulated Blood to drink.

We looked like vampires, too. Well, we tried. I ended up looking more like Stephenie Meyer. Isobel should totally be cast as Renesmee.

Jenny's eyes are red because she's not hungry.

And here's Isobel moving superfast-

That night we went to see the premiere at 12:01am. We were excited, but tried to retain our vampiric cool.

We met some friends there. Here are Maren and Marelyse looking like Jenny's movietime snacks:

YAAAAAAAAAAAAYYYYYYYY!!!!!!

Bizzilla, lady of the pumpkin patch.

Welcome back. I wouldn't recommend checking your brokerage account. It's probably in the toilet and you are thinking: it can't get much worse. OMG!!!! PUmpKiNS!!! We think Isobel looks like Ava here.


Behold, the next photo's uncanny resemblance to...
Horror.


This is Isobel striking a casual, "I don't care 'bout your rules because I'm a hipster"-type pose that belongs in one of those teen magazines that has boys dressed like punks and girls like librarians. Feel the angst.


From this angle she is as tall as the second story window. I call her Bizzilla!

Isobel's First Birthday (fo all you haters who said it wouldn't happen)

It's another lush summer day in central Pennsylvania; at least it still feels like summer. The weather lately has been akin to an enormous dog incessantly panting on everyone from above.
Here are two nature girlz who have decided to be friends in spite of the recent downturn in the economy. (Props to Bobby for taking the first two photos.)

Bizzley salute!

The gang is all here, except for Isobel who is hiding.

Duck. Duck. Moose.

Christina created this photo garland to commemorate Isobel's first year in pictures. She is a talented woman and she is proud of her skills.

To get in the "Suzie Homemaker" mood, she got all gussied up.

Once her hair was just right, Christina made a Pumpkin Apple Harvest Cake. Isobel enjoyed her first cake, as you can see. I think she looks like she just heard a really corny joke.

"mY firST tAsTe of suGaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaR!"

Caroline was more excited for the presents than Isobel.

As for us, we are probably moving to Colorado and entering a new stage of desperation. Antidepressants are appreciated, but Benjamins are appreciated even more.

Isobel Walks! (kind of)

Barbara Joan Gregor 1927-2008

My grandmother, Barbara Joan Gregor, passed away on September 26th. Here is her obituary:

"Barbara Joan Gregor, 81, of Carlisle died Friday, Sept. 26, 2008, in Carlisle Regional Medical Center. She was born March 14, 1927, in Detroit, Mich., and was a daughter of the late Geoffrey and Dorothy May (Broadbent) Whittaker.

Barbara graduated from Redford High School in Detroit and earned her Bachelor of Arts degree in journalism from Michigan State University, where she was a member of Delta Zeta Sorority. She was an active member of St. John's Episcopal Church in Carlisle, where she was the first woman elected to serve on the Vestry, a Sunday School Teacher, past president of E.C.W. and chairman of the church photo directory for many years. Barbara was a former member of the Carlisle Garden Club, a past president of the Carlisle Civic Club, and was very active in the production of the former Carlisle Hospital Follies. She was an avid bridge player, a poet and a creator of word games.

She is survived by her husband of 59 years, John R. Gregor; one son, John G. (and his wife, Wendy) Gregor of Vineland, N.J.; two daughters, Judith Lynn Shiffler (and her husband, Bruce) of Carlisle and Donna Whitesel (and her husband, William) of Nebraska City, Neb.; one sister, Nancy Frye of Birmingham, Mich.; 11 grandchildren and three great-grandchildren."


She made a mini LIFE magazine issue to announce her engagement:

This one was taken at our PA wedding reception in my parents' backyard:

This is the day of the funeral:

She was a wonderful woman who was very involved with her kids' and grandkids' lives. She was witty; she loved puns. I love them as well, and I can remember shooting them back and forth at dinners at her house. She is sorely missed by all.

I MADE this!!

With the help of the wonderfully talented and creative Nicole Shiffler, I made that there kitty onesie! I'd like to thank Dagny, the inspiration for this particular piece, as well as my model, Isobel.



Don't be fooled, though. Picture time isn't always a barrel o' laughs.

there's no wrong way to eat a rhesus.

Hello, wake up: GOOD MORNING. Izzle Bizzle welcomes our prodigal readers back to this vortex of sound and vision with this inspiring vista:

This is the estate of Mr. James Madison, which is near the estate of Mr. Thomas Jefferson, which is near the estates of other dead white guys with lots o' land and a handful of slaves. Madison's grounds were beautiful as was Jefferson's homestead, Monticello. One piece of advice: if you decide to visit central Virginia in midsummer, bring a whole pack of sugary popsicles to rub all over your arms and legs to keep cool 'cause it was hotter than the devil's horns down there.

Speaking of the devil's horns, we gave Isobel a post punk, indie-tastic mohawk that would make Sid Vicious blush in admiration. When we asked if she wanted more food she kept saying "Oi! Oi! Oi!"

Christina has a new sister in law who is named Casey and is not the one in the suit with the short hair (psssst...that's her brother Robert, you jokers). They got married to compete with us, or so it is rumored around the Shiffler court. It is also rumored that they may hire me as their family fashion, hair AND beauty consultant in the near future (HINT, HINT!)

Oppression in a double stroller: Johanna looks innocent as usual with Isobel giving her the visual strongarm.

Is that my baby laying the mighty smackdown on that poor, defenseless cougar? The cougar is a symbol of weakness, listlessness and shame. A baby could conquer it!

We found these guys passed out in the Walmart parking lot after a night of heavy battle reenacting. They were actually getting into their very nerdy roles by speaking with pirate and Scottish accents which probably someone found amusing. I think the guys in the foreground look like rejects from the Priates of the Carribean franshise.

This dress has a long, storied history that begins with an ancient Chinese jade ring, a rhesus monkey, and a sack of cursed gold. We had to bargain the retirement account of one of our readers and promise to never speak of the curse in order to get it. Also, it has some real cute little flowers on it.

Underwater sea aliens bent on the destruction of their adult captors

With a little help from her friends, Isobel can walk from here to Dodge City (you see, most people wanna get outta there, but Isobel is fearless and underestimated). She looks a little scared.


This is at the annual Bluegrass Festival- a good time to kick off your shoes and indulge in sinful pleasures. All we are saying is Give Peas a Chance (her onesie below).


We like to dress up Isobel sooooo(o) much that sometimes we forget she is a baby and not a wittle doll.


These next two digitized photographical renderings were taken on the boardwalk of Ocean City, NJ. New Jersey, ha ha ha ha.



While the creature (calling herself Zarneisha) displayed above-average intelligence, she still lost 3 straight games of Jenga to her masters, claiming "A force F acting on a body gives it an acceleration a which is in the direction of the force and has magnitude inversely proportional to the mass m of the body: ." Then the creature danced a jig, much to the delight of all except Dagny and that guy with the mullet across the street. They just scowled. Behold Zarneisha, Queen of the Farthquan, the aforementioned sea alien people: